


Just Between Us

by CoraClavia



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Idiots in Love, space edition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:21:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoraClavia/pseuds/CoraClavia
Summary: Some things aren't meant for the crew's ears.
Relationships: Chakotay & Kathryn Janeway, Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway
Comments: 17
Kudos: 119





	Just Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> As happens sometimes, this started as a "wouldn't it be funny if..." chat with mylittleredgirl, and oops, it became a fic.

Kathryn is in her ready room, reading a particularly dull status report from the airponics bay (status: still there, still functional), when the door chirps. "Come in."

Tuvok steps inside, padd in hand. "Captain, might I speak with you?"

"Of course." She waves a hand to the couch, waiting for him to join her. "Can I offer you something to drink?"

"No, thank you." He sits. "Captain, it has come to my attention that the topic of a forcible takeover has been discussed between yourself and Commander Chakotay."

She's very sure she must have heard him wrong. "A _what?"_

"A hostile takeover of this vessel."

If Tuvok weren't, well, Tuvok, she'd be certain this is a practical joke. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ensign Gav reported overhearing a conversation that concerned him," Tuvok explains. "He provided me with a transcript, and I told him I would investigate."

"A _transcript?"_ Kathryn is starting to wonder if this is, in fact, a practical joke. It has a Tom Paris quality to it.

"I have it here." Tuvok holds up his padd and taps a few controls. "Conversation dated three days ago. Location: captain's ready room; Ensign Gav heard the following through the open door. Captain: _Look at all these reports._ Commander: _I could always stage a mutiny._ Captain: _Would you?_ Commander: _Just tell me when_."

Kathryn gapes. Blinks.

"Tuvok, he wasn't serious."

Tuvok sets down his padd. "Captain, I must remind you—"

"It's a joke."

One single muscle in Tuvok's face twitches slightly, but otherwise, his expression is impassive. "A…'joke?'"

"Sometimes when there's a lot of tedious work ahead, or a long list of reports to get through, I tease him about taking over the ship so I don't have to do them anymore. That's all, I promise. It's nothing but teasing."

A slight pause follows; she can only imagine what her security chief is thinking before he finally speaks.

"Understood."

Kathryn smiles wryly. "I suppose it _is_ a little juvenile."

"To the contrary: the fact that you are comfortable making this a subject of shared humor is a testament to your mutual trust," he says. "But perhaps you could limit this shared humor to times and places where no one else will hear it and misconstrue the conversation. As Ensign Gav did."

"We will. Thank you, Tuvok."

* * *

"I had an interesting conversation with Tuvok this afternoon," Kathryn says as she gathers up their empty dinner plates that evening.

Chakotay raises an eyebrow as he collects the silverware and hands it to her. "Oh?"

She taps the replicator controls, watching their dinnerware disappear. "Apparently, he received a report that someone heard us joking about mutiny."

His eyes go wide. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes." She smiles. "He was very concerned."

"I take it you explained I'm not actually planning one?"

"I did. And I assured him we'll keep our mutiny jokes out of earshot of the crew."

"That sounds wise."

She nods. "I'd hate for anyone else to get the wrong idea about us."

His eyes brighten, his dimples flashing at her. "I think our secrets are safe. For now, anyway."

She finishes the last of her wine. "I'd hate for anyone to know the commander has a dangerous side."

"Oh, _dangerous_ , is he?" His grin gets smug, and as she sets her wineglass down, he grabs her wrist with one hand, tracing his thumb over the fine bones of her wrist. "I bet the captain loves it."

"Mmmm. Maybe," she concedes. "But she'll never admit it."

He slides his hands over her hips, tugging her closer. "You know, I hear the captain does pretty well dealing with the commander."

"Oh, she does, does she?"

He grins at her. "Well, she _usually_ ends up on top. When she says 'please,' anyway."

" _Excuse_ me? _"_

She knows she sounds affronted, but she can't help it; besides, the self-satisfied smile on his face is just too much to resist.

"In fact, I heard that last week—" he leans in to whisper into her ear, his lips brushing her skin, and she shivers–"she had her way with him right there on the couch."

Kathryn bites her lip, her eyes fluttering shut as he nuzzles at her throat. "That sounds exciting."

"Oh, it was. But she'd better watch out." He grabs her wrists, pinning them behind her back. "Because now I've got her right where I want her."

She licks her lips, watching his gaze fall to her mouth. "And what are you going to do with her?"

He swoops in to capture her mouth in a kiss. It's deep, slow, wet, the kind of kiss that makes her toes curl and her back arch and heat bloom under her skin.

"I'm taking you to bed, _Captain."_

* * *

Later, they're tangled in her sheets, sweaty and flushed, when her combadge chirps.

" _Tuvok to Captain Janeway."_

Chakotay watches, amused, as she leans across him to pluck her jacket off the floor and tap her badge. "Go ahead, Tuvok."

" _I apologize for interrupting your time off-duty, Captain, but I wanted to let you know that Ensign Gav came to speak with me again. He was most insistent that I understand he was not trying to accuse yourself or the Commander of any ill intent, and asked that I relay his apology."_

"It's no trouble. It won't hurt us to be more responsible." She grins at Chakotay. "Actually, the commander is here with me now. We were having dinner."

" _Commander, I trust the captain has explained the report?"_

"She did. And we've agreed, we'll be more careful about our remarks within earshot of the crew."

" _I am sure there will be no further misunderstandings. Thank you for your attention, and again, my apologies for intruding on your dinner."_

"Not at all," Chakotay says, his eyes roaming greedily over her naked body. "We were just in the middle of dessert."

"I'll check in with you tomorrow before alpha shift, Tuvok. Janeway out." Kathryn tosses her badge back onto her jacket and props herself up on her elbow, poking Chakotay's chest. "Oh, the 'middle,' is it? Someone's feeling pretty confident."

"My confidence is based on plenty of experience. As I think you know."

Kathryn tries very hard to glare at him, but she's fairly sure it's a complete failure, because he just looks even more smug as he leans across the pillow to press a teasing kiss to her mouth.

Besides: he's right. If she's learned anything these past few months, it's that round one is only the beginning.

"You think anyone knows about—" she gestures vaguely between them—"this?"

"About us?" he asks, and she nods. "No."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, it's not a huge ship. If someone knew, everyone would know," he points out. "And _we'd_ know if that were true."

"Are you sure?"

"Kathryn." He grins. "Do you honestly think Harry would be able to look us in the eye without blushing?"

"Oh, no," she groans. "You're right. We'd know."

Chakotay cups her cheek tenderly. "I don't mind being your little secret."

"I like being yours," she breathes, as he kisses her forehead, her cheek, her mouth. "There are plenty of things the crew doesn't need to know."

"Mmmm." He drags his tongue over the flickering pulse point at the base of her throat. "Like how easy it is to make you beg."

Kathryn scowls at him. He knows exactly how to wind her up. And it keeps working, which is the most infuriating thing. "I do not _beg_."

"Oh, yes you do."

"I do not!"

"All right. You asked for it." Chakotay rolls her over onto her back, pinning her wrists to the pillow above her head. "Give it up, Starfleet. This is a mutiny."

"Never."

He settles in the cradle of her hips, his thigh pressing hot and tight between her legs. "Face it. You're all mine."

"Prove it."

And she can't stop the moan that escapes when he leans in, tugging her earlobe between his teeth before he whispers, hot against her skin.

"Oh, I will. But not until you say _Please._ "

* * *

Kathryn wakes up the next morning to find him drawing patterns on her bare shoulder, watching her with tender eyes.

"Morning."

"Mmmm," she sighs. "Good morning."

"Staff meeting at 0800, right?"

"Right." She yawns. "I need to clean up."

"You also need to eat something. And no, coffee doesn't count." He leans over to kiss her briefly before reaching for his trousers. "I'm going back to my quarters to get dressed. Meet you at the mess hall for breakfast? 45 minutes?"

"Sure." Kathryn sits up, scrubbing her hands over her face. What she wouldn't give for an hour to soak in her tub already. She's sore. Deliciously, pleasantly sore. "No mutiny today, right?"

He grins, tugging his shirt over his head. "No mutiny. Not even if you beg."

He ducks to avoid the pillow she throws at his head, but she can't pretend he's wrong. Because he _did_ make her beg last night. More than once.

* * *

After senior staff meeting and a trip to Engineering to look over warp core maintenance plans, Kathryn's in the middle of departmental update reports when Chakotay walks into her ready room.

He pauses, looking over the multiple padds in front of her, the slightly glazed look in her eyes. "Reports going well?"

"Wonderful. Thrilling. Heart-stopping." She sets the padd down and digs her fingers into her temples. "Just think, Chakotay. One little mutiny, and all this can be yours."

His smile widens. "Well, I can't promise that, but the least I can do is help."

Chakotay settles on the couch across from her, scrolling through inventories, and they read in companionable silence.

And half an hour later, when she asks him to refill her coffee, she says _Please._


End file.
